Greece Travel Vlog Part 1: New York City to Athens

I knew since my bday trip in summer 2018 that I wanted to do Greece in 2019. I had been stalking air prices forever and it was always $1500+ for August, and there was no way I was paying that each for 2 people. Fast forward to July 9th, I received an alert that prices dropped drastically, and I scored 2 tickets for $ 1,400 on Iberia. I was elated! We only had 8 days, so I had to make the most of this itinerary, so here it goes.

I booked all hotels on http://cheapTickets.com. I had never used them before, and usually like to book my hotels direct, but they were running a 16% off coupon code, and an additional sale, which gave me the best prices of any site, so I booked all of our hotels the week of July 24th through them. We traveled Aug 2-10 so yes all of the booking was done very last minute.

We flew JFK-Madrid, Madrid to Athens.

Day 1-2 we stayed at Polis Grand Hotel, total price for the stay $167. This hotel was in the heart of downtown Athens. Graffiti everywhere, prostitutes 3 blocks over, but it was completely safe. The room was nice with a balcony, small (it’s Europe) but well appointed. They had an amazing rooftop with Acropolis views, and their breakfast spread was amazing AND included. I definitely recommend staying here. It’s a quick half mile walk to Monastiraki Square which is the place to be at night, and then a hop away from the Acropolis.

I am apart of Adidas Runners which is a global community. Apparently a lot of the European cities go on holiday for the entire summer, so there were no group runs scheduled. I asked the Athens faction on facebook if anyone was available for a run and received a bite from one of the members. It was 3 members in total, myself and my husband. They took us on a great tour of the city. We got to see so many things that we never would have had we been on our own, and I was eternally grateful. We visited the Acropolis, €20 per person. You get up there, walk around, take some pics, and your out of there. All done in 1hr or less.

Stay tuned for part to of my Greece Vlogs where we go from Athens to Crete.